Twenty
by LadyLuckRogue
Summary: Written for the Pepperony200 prompt table on LJ.  Theme is Twenty.  What happens when two geniuses decide to make a friendly bet?


Title: The Bet

Author: geniusinmotion

Theme: 133-Twenty

Rating: PG-13 to be safe. This rating stuff confuses me.

Length: 841 words...wow...

Summary: Written for the Pepperony200 Theme challenge. As per my two previous posts, quote at the beginning is from "Gates of Fire." A friendly bet between geniuses.

Disclaimer: I don't own Iron Man, nor do I own Marvel. If I did, I would totally build my own Iron Man armor because that would be awesome. All spelling errors are mine however. Please ignore them.

**Pg. 30 "Five! One would have saved us!"**

"You assumed that you didn't have any when I simply stated that there were no electrolytic capacitors." Jarvis stated in his usual tone, though there was an undeniable edge of exasperation. "My programming does not allow me to read your mind, sir."

Pepper listened to the conversation with amusement. Times like this made it hard to believe that Jarvis was just a computer program, especially when he seemed to be outsmarting his creator.

"I almost had to redesign the whole damn thing because you said we didn't have any. We do. They are right her in this box. Color coded even. I'm on a time crunch here, Jarvis." Tony continued ranting.

"I stated you did not have any of the electrolytic type. The ceramic capacitors are indeed in the box you specified. As for the design, might I recommend a slight redesign, considering the schematics you drew up were done under the premise that you would have electrolytic capacitors. The values-"

"Spare me the electrictronic components 101 lecture here, Jarvis. MIT remember?" Tony cut him off, spilling out a number of the components in question and glancing over what looked like a sketch of something. Bits of curcuit board and an assortment of wires and components lay scattered on his workspace. Half a dozen sheets of notebook paper, a few pens and one of his many laptops were in front of him. Tony himself looked frazzled and frustrated.

"You look like you could use a break." Pepper called out, walking across the workshop. Tony jumped, confirming her suspicion that he'd been to wrapped up in his project to notice her walk in, stilettos and all. She handed him a cup of coffee, which he accepted gratefully.

"What are you doing anyway?" Pepper asked, trying to make sense of all the items laying around.

"Upgrading my phone." Tony answered tiredly, running a hand through his hair. The shirt he was wearing, on of his tanktops he tended to wear in the workshop, looked a whole lot like the one he'd been wearing yesterday, judging from the pattern of grease stains. He looked like he hadn't even slept, which Pepper thought was entirely possible. She had fallen asleep on the couch the night before.

"Looks like you're building it from scratch. Didn't you just upgrade it?" Pepper pointed out.

"He feels the need to do so again at the expense of his health, I'm afraid. I suppose he things a bet and his ego are far more important than food and sleep." Jarvis informed her, knowing Pepper would step in and make him see reason.

"Thanks traitor. Just remember I can reprogram you." Tony muttered, knowing the threat was empty.

Pepper raised an eyebrow, "Bet?"

Tony sighed, knowing he was probably going to get a lecture on this one. "Reed called yesterday. Avengers stuff. Started talking about something and phones came up. He bet me twenty that his phone is the most advanced ever. Of course he's delusional and I'll prove that Friday during the meeting. Besides, I wanted to add a couple bells and whistles to it anyway."

Pepper stared at him for a moment, trying to gauge if he was serious and exactly what to say to him. "Twenty? As in twenty thousand dollars?"

Tony nodded absently, drinking down the rest of his coffee.

Pepper glanced at the clock. "How long do you think this will take you?"

Tony shrugged, "Five, six hours maybe. Considering the design snafu."

"Good, that means you have time to come upstairs with me, eat something and get a few hours of sleep."

Tony looked as if he was going to protest for a minute and Pepper shook her head, stepped closer and kissed him. He relaxed instantly, pulling her closer.

Tonys hands trailed down her body, coming to rest first on her hips, then lower to her ass.

Pepper grabbed his hands and pulled away. "Later, maybe. If you eat something and get at least a few hours of sleep."

"You really don't play fair. At all." He complained.

Pepper smiled and pointed towards the stairs. "I'm just trying to make sure you survive so you can embarrass Reed Richards. That's all. How do you plan to do it?"

"I have no doubt my phone is better, but you know me. I always have an ace up my sleeve. I made it so that I can shut anyone's phone off with a touch of a button. Might come in handy someday." Tony stated, with a smirk.

Pepper shook her head. "SHIELD better be happy that you are on their side. You'd make a scary evil genius. By the way after you win the bet, you are spending some of that twenty thousand on me."

Tony chuckled as they reached the kitchen. "Am I?"

"Of course. Considering all the schedule shuffling I have to do, I think it's not too much to ask. And it makes me feel better for not lecturing you on how stupid you can be sometimes."


End file.
